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Licata-less Bulls get first test Friday

8/31/2016

Four Mid-American Conference teams begin their seasons Friday. Three of those come from the West Division. Buffalo is the only East Division member to kick things off Friday. Here is a peek at the Bulls’s matchup.

Albany (0-0, 0-0 Colonial Athletic) at
Buffalo (0-0, 0-0 MAC)
Friday, Sept. 2, 7 p.m. ET
UB Stadium, Buffalo NY

● It’s the 13th meeting of the two schools, with Albany holding a 7-5 advantage. Buffalo defeated Albany 51-14 in last year’s opener. UB is 8-2 in its last 10 home openers.
(CLICK READ MORE TO CONTINUE . . . )

Central kicks off campaign against Blue Hose

8/30/2016

Presbyterian (0-0) at Central Michigan (0-0)
Thursday, Sept. 1, 7 p.m. ET
Kelly Shorts Stadium, Mt. Pleasant, Mich.
WEATHER

Central Michigan and Presbyterian College are meeting on the gridiron for the first time. However, kicking off the season against MAC schools has become something of a habit lately for PC. The Blue Hose have now opened against FBS teams on the road for the past four years, with the most recent three being against MAC schools (Miami, NIU, CMU). Overall, PC is 0-11 versus FBS competition.

Presbyterian will be . . .

WEEK ONE MAC SCHEDULE

8/29/2016

Thursday, September 1
Presbyterian at Central Michigan, 7:00 pm ET (ESPN3)
Friday, September 2
Albany at Buffalo, 7:00 pm ET (ESPN3)
Ball State at Georgia State, 7:00 pm ET (American Sports Network/ESPN3)
Mississippi Valley State at Eastern Michigan, 6:00 pm ET (ESPN3)
Toledo at Arkansas State, 9:00 pm ET (ESPNU)
Saturday, September 3
Bowling Green at Ohio State, Noon ET (Big Ten Network)
Western Michigan at Northwestern, Noon ET (ESPNU)
Kent State at Penn State, 3:30 pm ET (Big Ten Network)
Miami at Iowa, 3:30 pm ET (ESPNU)
Texas State at Ohio, 3:30 pm ET (CBS Sports Network)
Virginia Military Institute at Akron, 6:30 pm ET (ESPN3)
NIU at Wyoming, 10:30 pm ET (CBS Sports Network)

Coaches poll suggests tight title races

8/29/2016

Broncos, Falcons garner very slight edge

Cleveland, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference (MAC) head football coaches have provided their own 2016 preseason poll and, based upon voting by all 12 head coaches, Bowling Green and Western Michigan have been selected to win the East and West Divisions respectfully.

In the East Division a narrow margin of only two points separated first-place and second-place. Bowling Green was selected first with 66 total points followed by second-place Ohio with 64 points. Akron was selected third followed by Buffalo, Miami and Kent State.

In the West Division, only two points separated the top three spots with Western Michigan gathering 60 points, followed by second-place NIU with 59 points and third-place Toledo with 58 points.

The voting reflects on . . .

Healthy Huskies anxious to pursue another title

8/26/2016

The following is part of a MAC Reporter Online series previewing the 2016 outlook for each MAC school. Stats/rankings are for all games, unless otherwise noted.

TEAM: Northern Illinois Huskies
2015 RECORD: 8-6, 6-2 MAC (Tied for 1st in Wast. Won tiebreaker)
POSTSEASON: Lost MAC Championship game to Bowling Green, 34-14. Lost Poinsettia Bowl to Boise State, 55-7
HEAD COACH: Rod Carey (5th year)
MAC MEDIA PRESEASON POLL RANK: 3rd in MAC West

Considering its recent history, a Northern Illinois trip to the 2015 MAC Championship game wasn’t all that unlikely. Considering the path it took to get there, however, the Huskies might have been considered very unlikely.

There was bad luck and good, but ultimately, NIU gritted its way to Ford’s Field once again. Injuries accounted for the bad luck. A traffic jam of good teams atop the MAC West ended up being good luck as Northern Illinois beat out three other foes in a tiebreaker.

Injuries stymied the Huskies in a championship game setback and didn’t help in a bowl game blowout loss.

All that is in the past now, and . . .

New faces likely big key for Zips

8/26/2016

The following is part of a MAC Reporter Online series previewing the 2016 outlook for each MAC school. Stats/rankings are for all games, unless otherwise noted.

TEAM: AKRON ZIPS
2015 RECORD: 8-5, 5-3 MAC East (tied for 2nd)
POSTSEASON: Defeated Utah State 23-21 in Idaho Potato Bowl
HEAD COACH: Terry Bowden (5th year)
MAC MEDIA PRESEASON POLL RANK: 3rd in MAC East

Akron’s defense played a key role in getting the Zips to a bowl game (which UA won) last year. UA was second in scoring defense and first in total defense. Another huge plus, especially for a team that sometimes struggled with scoring, was turnover margin. Only Bowling Green had a better margin.
Speaking of turnovers, the defending MAC champion Falcons had some significant personnel turnover between seasons. Akron is , , ,

QB production is top question for Flashes

8/24/2016

The following is part of a MAC Reporter Online series previewing the 2016 outlook for each MAC school. Stats are for all games, unless otherwise noted.

TEAM: Kent State Golden Flashes
2015 RECORD: 3-9, 2-6 MAC (4th in MAC East)
HEAD COACH: Paul Haynes (3rd year)
MAC MEDIA PRESEASON POLL RANK: 6th in MAC East

When you have the lowest scoring offense among FBS teams, you better have a really good defense.

That kind of summarizes much of the 2015 Kent State Golden Flashes and may speak some of 2016, as well. Seventeen starters (9 offense and 8 defense) return off a team that won three games overall and two MAC encounters. One of the wins was over a team (UMass) no longer in the conference. The other was over one of college football’s youngest teams (Miami) entering its third year of a rebuild.

The Flashes scored . . .

Rockets offense primed, defense has questions

8/22/2016

The following is part of a MAC Reporter Online series previewing the 2016 outlook for each MAC school. Stats are for all games, unless otherwise noted.

TEAM: Toledo Rockets
2015 RECORD: 10-2, 6-2 MAC (part of four-way tie for first in the West)
HEAD COACH: Jason Candle (1st year)
MAC MEDIA PRESEASON POLL RANK: 2nd in MAC West
The Toledo Rockets appeared in five of the first eight Mid-American Conference championship games. The last, however, was in 2004, when UT bumped off Miami, 35-27.

No doubt there has been a stream of talent going through the program. Likewise, there have been some pretty good head coaches along the way (e.g. Nick Saban in 1990). In fact, the Rockets are now on their fourth head coach in nine years – not because of bad football, but because of good football.

The latest HC is Jason Candle, who replaces Matt Campbell (now at Iowa State). Once again, there is plenty of talent on hand, and . . .

Ohio hopes to take next step, win East

8/21/2016

The following is part of a MAC Reporter Online series previewing the 2016 outlook for each MAC school. Stats are for all games, unless otherwise noted.

TEAM: Ohio Bobcats
2015 RECORD: 8-5 (5-3 MAC, tied for second in MAC East)
HEAD COACH: Frank Solich (11th year)
MAC MEDIA PRESEASON POLL RANK: 2nd in MAC East

Ohio started and finished 2015 with three-game winning streaks. It was that middle stretch – when the Bobcats went 2-4 – that proved problematic. The stretch included several lopsided loses, but OU regrouped to finish strong.

As the stats . . .

Falcons face multiple challenges to repeat quest

8/19/2016

New staff, personnel turnover, tough schedule

The following is part of a MAC Reporter Online series previewing the 2016 outlook for each MAC school. Stats are for all games, unless otherwise noted.

TEAM: Bowling Green Falcons
2015 RECORD: 10-4, (7-1, first in MAC East)
HEAD COACH: Mike Jinks (1st year)
MAC MEDIA PRESEASON POLL RANK: First in MAC East

The 2015 Bowling Green Falcons were an offensive juggernaut -- a whirlwind passing attack that could also hurt you with the run , as well. Quarterback Matt Johnson made the most of his senior season, finishing among the nation’s passing leaders and taking his team to a MAC championship.
Surrendering nearly 29 ppg didn’t seem so bad when BG was averaging over 42 points per game on offense. However, Georgia Southern reversed roles with Bowling Green in the GoDaddy Bowl with a 58-27 win over the Falcons.
There will be considerable turnover in many spots this year. Adding that to . . . .

Broncos primed for another title run

8/16/2016

The following is part of a MAC Reporter Online series previewing the 2016 outlook for each MAC school. Stats are for all games, unless otherwise noted.

TEAM: Western Michigan Broncos
2015 RECORD: 8-5, 6-2 MAC (Part of four-way tie atop MAC West)
HEAD COACH: P.J. Fleck
MAC MEDIA PRESEASON POLL RANK: (1TH in West and MAC title game winner)

After a shaky (1-3) non-conference run last year, Western Michigan regrouped to reel off five straight Mid-American Conference victories. With a 54-7 drubbing of Ball State, the Broncos appeared to be in good shape for a MAC West title.
Western managed to win just one of the three remaining regular season games, however, and fell short in a title game ticket tiebreaker. Northern Illinois, physically battered at season’s end, got the trip and was handily dispatched by Bowling Green in the championship game.
It’s a do-over for Western Michigan in 2016. But . . .

Young RedHawks building more talent, depth

8/14/2016

The following is part of a MAC Reporter Online series previewing the 2016 outlook for each MAC school. Stats are for all games, unless otherwise noted.

TEAM: Miami RedHawks
2015 RECORD: 3-9, 2-6 MAC (5th MAC East)
HEAD COACH: Chuck Martin (3rd Year)
MAC MEDIA PRESEASON POLL RANK: (5th in East)

The RedHawks put up some ugly numbers at times last year. Most of those came during the early and middle portions of the schedule. Non-conference beatings at Wisconsin and Western Kentucky come to mind, and MU was simply overmatched in those situations.
Head coach Chuck Martin, nonetheless, determined relatively early that if . . .

CMU has chips to stay in West title 'game'

8/11/2016

The following is part of a MAC Reporter Online series previewing the 2016 outlook for each MAC school. Stats are for all games, unless otherwise noted.

TEAM: Central Michigan Chippewas
2015 RECORD: 7-6, 6-2 MAC (Part of four-way tie atop MAC West)
HEAD COACH: John Bonamego (2nd year)
MAC MEDIA PRESEASON POLL RANK: (4TH in West)

Last year about this time, first year Central Michigan head coach John Bonamego was racking up mileage driving between cancer treatments and practices. The former Chippewas player battled his way through all of it and is feeling much better these days. His team should be feeling pretty good, as well, because while they are face another season of knock-down, drag-out MAC West competition, they are well-equipped to compete.
Really, with nine more point, CMU could have . . .

Defense likely a key to Ball State W-L improvement

8/7/2016

The following is part of a MAC Reporter Online series previewing the 2016 outlook for each MAC school. Stats are for all games, unless otherwise noted.

TEAM: Ball State Cardinals
2015 RECORD: 3-9 overall, 2-6 MAC (5th/West)
HEAD COACH: Mike Neu (1st year)
MAC MEDIA PRESEASON POLL RANK: 5th in West

There is good and bad news for former Cardinal quarterback standout Mike Neu, who returns to Muncie as the new Ball State head football coach. The good news is that 15 returning starters include some very talented playmakers. The bad news is that BSU plays in the very tough MAC West Division.

The latter, of course, is actually more of an observation than any real news. If anybody appreciates the level of competition in the MAC West, it is Ball State. But for the Cardinals to , , ,

Bulls hoping to ‘get over that hump’

8/5/2016

The following is part of a MAC Reporter Online series previewing the 2016 outlook for each MAC school. Stats are for all games, unless otherwise noted.

TEAM: Buffalo Bulls
RECORD: 5-7 overall, 3-5 MAC (4th/East)
HEAD COACH: Lance Leipold (2nd year)
MAC MEDIA PRESEASON POLL RANK : 4th in East
Through nine 2015 regular season contests, the Buffalo Bulls seemed poised to qualify for a post-season bowl game. Three losses to close the season, however, dashed those hopes. It was one of three, three-game streaks for UB, which lost three midseason games before appearing to right the ship during a three-game win streak.
If there was one culprit to the three losses . . .

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